Earthbending
by Miss I-Like-Too-Many-Fandoms
Summary: Lin doesn't think she's an earthbender but her mother, in true Toph fashion, drags her out to practice. Will she succeed? Kind of a sequel to The Lemur.


**It's good to stretch the fangirl and writer. It's been awhile. This takes place, I'd say, a few months after The Lemur. Anyway, enough of my rambling. I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra, those are property of Nick and Bryke. Enjoy!**

The sun was high in the sky over Republic City, its rays unrelenting as it only worsened the almost week long heat wave. Though the heat was sweltering and her hair was sticking to her forehead, Lin did not mind being outside. She was too engrossed in her favorite activity, watching her mother earth bend. It was one of those rare days when Toph would abruptly leave work before the lunch hour, pick Lin up early from Air Temple Island, and spend the rest of the day at home.

Targets had been set up haphazardly around the patio behind their home. The patio was almost larger than the house itself and constructed of sun dried mud bricks, the perfect medium for earth bending. An hour before, Lin and her mother had carved the watermelons that they always used for the dummies' heads. Lin didn't know why her mother sometimes cackled maniacally while they were carving, but she thought it was funny and she loved to see her mother happy.

Only one dummy had been defeated so far while Toph practiced some basic movements. Lin lounged a few feet away, her stomach to the ground, her head propped on her hands, and her ankles locked in the air behind her. She was sweating quite a bit but was not bothered in the least, too busy admiring her mother's talent.

Her mind wandered briefly to her friends on Air Temple Island. When she left, Tenzin was about to train with his father and Kya was just getting out of training with Aunt Katara. The thoughts made her jealous and created a tight ball of something unidentifiable in her stomach. It almost made her want to throw up. Toph, of course, had noticed the changes in her daughter and had stopped training to look in her direction.

"Are you alright, kiddo? Is it too hot for you? You can go inside." Lin sighed, flopping her arms down beside her, her head falling to the ground as well. Toph raised an eyebrow at her daughter's antics and approached her, kneeling down in front of her. "What's up?"

"I vwant fu ve an earf bender like vou." Lin didn't lift her head, instead speaking into the brick below her. Her mother caught every word, however.

"Well, c'mon then." Toph grabbed Lin under arm and hoisted her up on to her feet. "You'll never be an earth bender acting like your Uncle Snoozles." Toph, still gripping her daughter's upper arm firmly, led her to the center of the court, the dummies surrounding them.

"But, Momma, I can't earth bend."

"Have you ever tried?"

"Well…"

"Exactly. Do what I do." Toph released Lin and sank into her horse stance, waiting for the seven year old to do the same. After a few moments, Lin mimicked her mother, her stance considerably less stable. "You'll never move anything with a stance like that. Grip the ground with your toes and pull your knees farther apart. Feel the earth." Lin's tongue poked out of her mouth as she followed her mother's instructions. After several moments of adjusting, she settled.

"Like that, Momma?"

"Perfect, squirt." Lin beamed at her idol's praise. "Now, close your eyes. Focus on nothing else but the earth beneath your feet." Lin obeyed, her face scrunched up in concentration. After several heart beats, Toph figured Lin was ready. "Now, stomp! Make the earth buckle under your foot." The elder of the two demonstrated, the earth bending and cracking beneath her foot. The indention radiated out in a perfect circle, but did not touch Lin, though it clearly could have gone farther, the amount of force exerted having been spectacular and the force used to halt it even more so.

"Aah!" Lin's right foot met the brick with a painful thwump. Toph could feel the vibrations from her daughter's stomp hitting the ground rebound back into the child's foot and ankle. Luckily, there was no break or sprain. "I can't do it, Momma!" Lin held her tears back with all of her will as she held her foot. Her mother never cried.

"I didn't expect you to get it on the first try. I also didn't expect you to nearly injure yourself. You'll be fine. Try again when you think you can handle it." Her mother's words gave Lin a stubborn set to her jaw. She placed her foot back on the ground, settling into a deep and very stable horse stance. Her ankle throbbed a bit, but she ignored it. Toph observed with a smirk on her face.

Lin didn't succeed the first time. Or the second time. Not even the third time. Dusk fell and Lin was still practicing, having yet to impose her will on the earth around her. Toph's smirk had left her face, but had been replaced by a smile that grew with each of her daughter's tries. The last few of Lin's attempts were giving her pause though, her smile faltering a bit. Lin was slowing down, her stance becoming weaker and weaker. On what might have been the hundredth try, the sun on its deathbed in the sky, she broke.

"I can't…I can't…I'm not an earth bender. I can't do it." Tears were pooling in the girl's vibrant green eyes. Toph eased herself from her horse stance to kneel in front of her daughter.

"Yes, you can. I know it. I can feel it, Lin. You will earth bend." Lin shook her head, turning her back on Toph.

"I can't! I'm not like you, Momma. I'm just not." Toph sighed.

"Lin, you are an earth bender."

"No, I'm not!"

"Lin…"

"But what if I'm not? I just want to be like you. Will you still love me if I'm not an earth bender?" Toph sank to her knees, wrapping her arms around the crying Lin, who had turned to face her.

"Of course, I will, but I don't want you to be like me. I want you to be you." Lin gave her mother a watery smile, winding her arms around Toph's neck. A beat passed. "But you're an earth bender." In an instant, the moment was over and Lin tore herself away.

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

"No!"

"Don't you want to be an earth bender?" At that, Lin turned away and stalked off, wiping tears hastily away. She was unaware of the imprints her bare feet left behind as she stomped off.

"Lin?" With a huff, Lin turned around, only to be met with a chunk of earth her size. She clenched her eyes shut and thrust both arms straight up to protect her face, her nose an inch away from her inside forearms. The impact never came. When Lin opened her eyes and lowered her arms, she was met with a wall of earth that stopped just a bit above her head.

"I told you." Her mother approached, stopping just before the earthen wall, looking down at Lin. The seven year old could only stare in shock. Several blinks and jaw movements later, Lin found her voice.

"You mean I did that?"

"You did."

"Woohoo! I'm an earth bender!" Lin jumped and cheered, pumping her fist. When the initial excitement wore off, Lin's brow furrowed, her inquisitive mind whirring. "How did you know?"

"I could feel the earth responding to you. It wasn't enough for you to see, but I could see the earth lean towards you. It wanted to listen to you, but you just weren't confident enough. Earth bending is all about being steady, unwavering. You have to be sure of yourself." Lin pondered her mother's words for a few moments before nodding, though it went unnoticed by the blind bender.

"So when can we start training?" Lin was on the balls of her feet, rocking back and forth, the enthusiasm back in full force.

"I'd say first thing tomorrow morning, but we have to tell your Aunt Katara. I have to rub it in her face a bit that you displayed your abilities a year before Tenzin did and collect some money from your Uncle Aang." Toph was smirking yet again.

"So, after all of that stuff?"

"Yes, right after I torment our relatives." Lin gave a whoop and leapt once again, her stomach growling while she was in mid-air. Toph's stomach followed suit a minute later, sending the two earth benders into a fit of giggles. When the mirth died down a bit, Toph, with a swift movement Lin barely saw, lowered the wall Lin had built, smoothing over the bricks. Lin was still gaping in awe when her mother scooped her up and threw her over her shoulder. "Let's go get something to eat. Yang Hi's should still be open."

"Yeah!" Toph carried the giddy child over her shoulder all the way to the duo's beloved restaurant. They got a fair amount of looks and comments, but Lin was laughing her head off and that's all that mattered to Toph.

It might have taken a fair amount of prodding and maybe a tad bit of shoving to get Lin to earth bend, but now Lin was overjoyed and Toph could rub her daughter's advanced-ness all in Katara's face. She was rather eager herself to train Lin, to pass on her knowledge, for her to see the way she did. Lin was going to be a prodigy, she just knew it.


End file.
